About the GAP

The Graduate Advisory Panel (GAP) is a group of nominated second-year graduate students that engage as a collective body in information sharing, problem solving, and idea generation at the Divisional level.

The GAP acts as a sounding board, focus group, and steering committee for the Division. As the graduate community continues to consider increasingly complex issues around curriculum innovation, professional development, diversity, community, and cross-departmental communication (to name but a few), it is crucial that students' opinions and solutions are continuously present within administrative conversations.

GAP members will:

Become more knowledgeable about the larger structures and frameworks that are in place at SAIC and will contribute to their review and improvement

Become more dynamic proponents of change within the graduate community through open and honest conversation and the dissemination of ideas collectively generated

Be able to have close contact with staff at the highest level of the Graduate Division in order to inquire, inspire, and activate new initiatives and solutions

Gain professional coordinating experience within a communally-activated committee structure

Generate and assist with scholarly and social para-curricular programming for the graduate community

Graduate students should consider GAP members their voice in conversations with the administration. Reach out to your GAP representatives if you have thoughts, concerns, or questions about the graduate student experience at SAIC.

Graduate Coordinators and Program Heads in each department nominate GAP panelists in the spring.

For more than 150 years, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has been a leader in educating the world’s most influential artists, designers, and scholars. Located in downtown Chicago with a fine arts graduate program consistently ranking among the top programs in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, SAIC provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and design as well as world-class resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago museum, on-campus galleries, and state-of-the-art facilities. SAIC’s undergraduate, graduate, and post-baccalaureate students have the freedom to take risks and create the bold ideas that transform Chicago and the world—as seen through notable alumni and faculty such as Michelle Grabner, David Sedaris, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Hunt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Cynthia Rowley, Nick Cave, Jeff Koons, and LeRoy Neiman.